Cross-Cultural Interpretations of Humor in Advertising

doi:N/A

eISSN: None / ISSN: 1010-7347

Journal of International Marketing and Marketing Research

2025, Volume 3, Issue 4 : 1-5

Research Article

Cross-Cultural Interpretations of Humor in Advertising

Olivia R. Mendes

Haruto Sakamoto

Farah El-Din

Department of Intercultural Communication, University of Barcelona, Spain

School of Behavioral Consumer Studies, Kyoto University, Jap

Centre for Global Media & Cultural Semiotics, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Humor is a widely used persuasive strategy in advertising, yet its effect varies significantly across cultures due to linguistic structure, social norms, values, emotional expression, and contextual interpretation. What is humorous in one culture may be offensive, meaningless, or misunderstood in another. This paper explores humor typologies, cultural dimensions influencing comedic perception, brand communication strategies, and cross-regional case comparisons. Hypothetical survey data from the United States, Japan, India, Germany, and Saudi Arabia reveal that cultural power distance, individualism, and gender norms strongly shape humor preferences. The study proposes a model for designing culturally adaptive humor-based campaigns that balance global brand identity with local sensitivities.1

Keywords

Humor Advertising

Cross-Cultural Marketing

Consumer Psychology

Semiotics

Global Branding

Cultural Adaptation

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All papers should be submitted electronically. All submitted manuscripts must be original work that is not under submission at another journal or under consideration for publication in another form, such as a monograph or chapter of a book. Authors of submitted papers are obligated not to submit their paper for publication elsewhere until an editorial decision is rendered on their submission. Further, authors of accepted papers are prohibited from publishing the results in other publications that appear before the paper is published in the Journal unless they receive approval for doing so from the Editor-In-Chief.

J. Int. Mark. Mark. Res. open access articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This license lets the audience to give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made and if they remix, transform, or build upon the material, they must distribute contributions under the same license as the original.

Recommended Articles

Cross-Border Influence of Social Media on Consumer Preferences

Alicia R. Bennett,

Aarif Sultan,

Kenji Morita

1-10

Cultural Dimensions and Digital Purchasing Behavior

Ethan R. Wallace,

Samina Khatun,

Hiroshi Tanaka

1-7

Post-Pandemic Global Consumer Loyalty Trends